how time flies
by Brittkip
Summary: its been many centuries since the death of sonic and co and Dr eggman. the world is peaceful again. but not for long as a reincarnation of the late doctor decides to make her comeback after obtaining the last chaos emerald. Shadow must now track down the reincarnations of sonic and co so they can stop the mad doctor! rated T because i forgot how FF works pffft.
1. prologue

_"Another week, another day, and another maths class on calculus."_ Nikki sighed as he scribbled down the last answer on his sheet of paper before quietly placing his pen back down on the table. He placed his head in the palm of his hand and his gaze landed on the science class that was outside testing their bottle rockets. He looked back to the clock at the front of the classroom. He was finished early, like always. A teacher tapped Nikki on the shoulder, startling him as he turned around to face his maths teacher.

"Nikki, are you finished?" she whispered, and Nikki nodded as he handed the teacher his test and they smiled at him. "Thank you." She replied. "Do you have any other work you can do?" Nikki shook his head. The teacher bit her lip as she looked around to see the other students still working, and the clock.

"I can study, if you want." Nikki interjected, staring blankly at the teacher, his uninterested gaze made the teacher feel as though she was somehow doing something wrong. But what was she to do? This student was always on top of things.

"Um, well, of course, Nikki, go ahead." The teacher gave a last wonky smile as she walked back to her desk and sat down to grade his test. One hundred percent, as usual. Nikki opened his English book and read over his notes. The same notes that he'd read over at least three times today. And he already knew everything off by heart.

 _"Another week, another maths class, another uneventful day in the life of Nikki Parlouzer."_

The rest of Nikki's day was the same as every other; he ate his lunch under a tree by himself, he read books in the library by himself, he finished his last session of the day by himself, and he walked home by himself. He unlocked the front door with his house keys was met with his mother walking through the hallway. She beamed when he saw him and pulled him into a hug.

"Ohhh, hello, my little shooting star! How was school today?" she asked, pulling her son's cheek as he scrunched up his face with annoyance.

"Mum it was fine." He sniffed the air. "Are you cooking something?" his mother gasped.

"Oops! I completely forgot about dinner!" she stood up, letting go of Nikki. "You go up to your room and I'll call you down when dinners ready, okay?" she disappeared around the corner. Nikki dragged his feet up the stair and into his room, closing the door behind him and sighing as he leaned against the door, brushing his hand through his messy blue quills. He took his black glasses off momentarily to rub his eyes before placing them back on and throwing his bag on his bed, he took a book out from his bookshelf and plonked on his bed, opening it at where he was last up to. The book was one he particularly favoured over his other ones. He liked the action and plotline. It was about two girls who were detectives and were investigating a town. he found himself at an awkward part of the book. The love scene between one of the protagonists and their love interest. He blushed as he read the words.

"Her luscious bosoms?" Nikki slammed the book shut with a thud. He never did like that part of the book. He heard his mother calling for him downstairs and went to join her in the kitchen, leaving his book behind on the bed and shutting his door behind him.

 _"Soooooo…."_ Nikki poked at his food. "Carla told me Samuel was having a party this weekend and wanted you to go." Nikki blew his bangs out of his eyes and looked at his mum. She gave him a look and he sighed.

"Mum, you know I'm not good with parties n' stuff." His mother went to say something, but he interrupted. "And besides, you remember what happened last time I went to a party." He shuddered as the thought of him being pelted with paintballs again rolled into his mind. His mum sighed as she took their empty plates to the kitchen and dropped them into the sink.

"Nikki." She said, he looked at her. "You need some friends."

"No, mum, he needs a **_GIRLFRIEND!"_** Nikki's sister giggled at her own little joke as Nikki groaned ad started walking back to his room. He heard his mum calling after him. He simply ignored her and closed the bathroom door, slipping off his sweater and undershirt and flicking the hot water in the shower on. He needed a shower to drown out his mother and sister's rambles. He didn't need friends, he'd gotten along just fine without them all his life.

Meanwhile, in the central of robotropolis…

"Rrrrgh, get him, you useless hunks of metal!" a woman sitting behind a huge control panel screeched as she watched the screen, which showed a black figure before the camera cut out. The woman gripped her head in anger. "USELESS! USELESS USELESS USELESS _USELESS!"_ A loud 'boom' could be heard behind her as she took a deep breath.

"You know why I'm here, doc." Shadow stepped inside, gripping a glowing green chao emerald. The woman turned around, an evil grin spread across her face.

"Oh, yes, yes, of _course_ I know why you're here." She stalled the hedgehog as her hand glided across her control board, about to press a button when the hedgehog pounced on her, knocking her over the board and landing on the floor in front of the thousands of screens showing all of new robotropolis. She laughed as she stayed on the floor, her curly brown hair hiding her face from view as Shadow scoffed.

"I don't see what's so amusing to you. I've won this time, so hand over the remaining emeralds." He held out his hand in front of her. Suddenly, a loud siren was heard as robots burst into the room and surrounded Shadow. He laughed. 'you really think twenty measly robots can stop m-" he was cut off as all twenty robots shot paralysers at him at the same time, causing the hedgehog to flop down on the ground and drop his emerald. He grunted as electricity tore through him. He reached out for his emerald, but a boot came down on his hand as the doc looked down at him menacingly, her grin still plastered across her face, as she pressed her foot down harder on his hand. Shadow groaned as he heard the inside of his hand crack under the weight, and his body ache as pulses of electricity relentlessly continued to pour through his body.

 _"Checkmate."_ She growled as slammed her other foot down on Shadow's face, knocking him out cold. The last thing Shadow heard was a door closing and the words 'throw him in the cell; I'll deal with him later.'

Miley ran as fast as her feet could take her. She ducked and weaved through the huge crowd and sliding around corners. She was sure she had escaped the people after her, so she stopped to take a breath. Suddenly, a hand was clamped over her mouth and she let out a strained, muffled scream as she was lifted up off the ground, the man pursuing her laughed in her ear as he dragged her into the alleyway, Miley struggled in his grip, kicking and flailing her legs.

"Nowhere to run now, **_fox."_** he growled in her ear. Miley let out a growl before baring her fangs and biting down on the man's hand. He yelped, dropping her. Miley went to run, but the man grabbed her tails and yanked her back, throwing Miley against the concrete wall and knocking the wind out of her lungs. She struggled to get her breathing back on track and gasped again as her captor pressed his boot against her chest, locking her in place on the ground in front of him as he sneered at the young fox.

 ** _"Hand it over, kid."_** Miley shook her head. She wasn't going to hand over her life's work that easily. She slipped out a controller from her sleeve and pushed a big green button, and a loud siren began blaring. The man laughed as he snatched the controller from her hand snapped it in half. A sinister smile on his face. "Nice try. But you'll have to do better than…" he trailed off as a hand tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around.

"What the hell do you wa-"he was cut off as a fist came round and knocked him in the jaw, sending him flying away from Miley and against a wall. The figure loomed over the man, its glowing blue eyes stared him down.

"Target acquired. Awaiting orders, master." Its robotic voice declared. Not too far away, Miley coughed as she let out a strained laugh as she struggled to sit up straight on the ground.

"Take out the trash, Mari." The man let out a small yelp as he was lifted off the ground by his collar and stared deep into the eyes of the emotionless robot. Blue eyes were the last thing he saw.

"Yes, master."

Needless to say, Miley exited that alleyway in the arms of her robotic guardian feeling very satisfied with herself.

Shadow let out a deep groan as he peeled open his eyes. His cell had little to no light. He went to sit up, but fell back down as a searing pain coursed through his right hand, causing him to hiss in pain. His hand was definitely broken. Using his left arm, he positioned himself up, gazing around the room before his eyes landed on the thousands of robots guarding his cell. He smirked.

"I suppose you were all sent to make sure I don't get out, huh?" the hedgehog said, amusement in his tone. "Doc has gone all out, I see." He then slowly proceeded to slip his inhibitor rings off and place them in his quills, biting his lip as he moved his right hand. He began to glow a bright, lime green.

"Unfortunately, all out is not enough to keep me behind bars."

"that's it Brass, you've got em' right where y'want em'!" Brass's coach cheered him on as he pinned down his opponent using his hand. His opponent suddenly brought a leg up and kicked Brass in the stomach, making him stumble back as he then threw his leg around and tripped over the red echidna. Brass lied down for a few seconds as his opponent loomed over him before rolling to his side, tripping his opponent before throwing a punch over his shoulder, hitting them in a weak point on their side, paralysing them as the coach hit the gong he was standing next to. He clapped as he helped the two students up. "Good job you two! Good job indeed!" he praised the two as they sat down on stools nearby to catch their breaths. He turned to Brass, who was drinking out of his water bottle.

"Brass, your moves were perfectly executed, but I want you to work on your form more, other than that, I think you'll be ready for the test in two weeks." Brass nodded as he gathered up his things.

'by the way, coach, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make the practice this weekend." Brass shoved his bottle into his sports bag as the coach looked at him.

"Why not? Somethin' important come up?"

"Uh, yeah, I got a party to go to." He waited for a response as the coach mulled it over before nodding his head.

"…..ah, you've been workin' hard this week, y'deserve a little break! Have fun squirt!" he ruffled the echidna's head as he got up and headed for the door, giving the coach a look before he left, the door shutting behind him. The sun was nearly completely set, so the sky was now a combination of reds, oranges and purples as Brass jogged his way to a nearby convenience store, walking in and picking up an iced tea. He walked up to the line in front of the counter and stopped to look at a poster on the wall that said: 'feeling sick? Just visit the chaos institute in new robotropolis!' Brass sneered. As if anyone would actually go see that crackpot of a woman when they were sick. Once he paid for his drink, he set out once again, this time jogging around the area before finally arriving home, walking in, he got bombarded by three chaos, all squeaking and squealing as he knelt down and pulled out his chao apples, handing one to each of the chaos before they all rushed off again, presumably to go enjoy their food. Brass chuckled as he heard his mother yelp as the chaos had zoomed through his house. He headed towards his room and threw his bag on the ground before going and lying down on his exercise bench.

"Time to train."

Shadow blasted his way through another hallway as sirens blared and everything was bathed in red lights. He grunted as he checked the condition of his right hand. It was doing better than before, but it still hadn't completely healed. And the fact that he had to stop every two minutes to fight something wasn't speeding up the process. He skidded into another hallway and halted to a stop as he heard robots coming around the corner. He turned to go back the way he came, but found there to be robots coming in from both directions. He could fight, but he was already in an unstable condition and his hand really freaking hurt. So instead he took refuge in the closest room, delving into the darkness and sliding just next to the entrance, so that if anybody were to walk in, they wouldn't detect him immediately. As he held his breath in the pitch black, he heard the doctor's voice shriek form the other side of the door.

"FIND THAT DAMN HEDGEHOG! FIND HIM! AND SHOOT HIM DOWN ON SIGHT! I'VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH HIM! _I WILL KILL HIM!_ HE ISN'T _LEAVING THIS CITY ALIVE!"_ the footsteps faded away and Shadow didn't let out a breath until they faded completely. He panted as he stood up, making sure one last time that they had left, he pushed a nearby button, which switched on a control panel and numerous tv screens turned on, flickering a bit before they became clear. Shadow studied each screen carefully. They each seemed to be showing houses and many locations. Some showed schools, one showed a dojo of sorts, another showed a garage. A dark look crossed Shadow's face as he looked down to the desk and found some files sitting loosely under his good hand. Picking them up, he read each one briefly before his eyes widened before narrowing in anger. Slipping the documents into his quills, he left the room and continued on his way out.

The doc was going to pay. He would make damn sure of it.

Annie pranced around her room, swinging her hips to the beat of the music she had blasting through her headphones as she worked on her routine for the upcoming pep rally at her school. She spun around before kicking her leg up in the air and ending with the splits before her phone chimed and she took it out of the holster on her shoulder to look at the message, which was from one her friends. Getting into a lying down position on her plush carpet floor, she unlocked the phone and eagerly responded to the message:

"What up banannie! U home from school yet?" Annie typed in her response.

"Sure are! What's up?" It was a little bit before she got a reply again.

"Not much actually…just some boy troubles, Y'know…"

"Awwwww, I'm sorry! I'm gonna assume asking him out didn't go well?"

"It was a plane wreck. Boys suck."

"Nah, you just have terrible taste in men."

"r00d. And as if YOU can talk! Little miss I'm-going-to-forever-stare-at-the-back-of-Nikki-parlouzer's-head! Just ask the guy out already!" Annie let out a gasp before giggling And rapidly typing her reply.

"I dunno if you've noticed recently, but Nikki and I have never actually spoken, and he's LEAGUES away from me!" Annie smiled. "….also staring is completely fine if he doesn't know!" suddenly, Annie's bedroom door burst open and she was sprayed with an onslaught of water. She shrieked as she bolted up, now finding herself sopping wet as she glared in the direction of one of her younger brothers, who was giggling his soon-to-be-dead face off. She growled before throwing her phone and headphones on her bed and chasing him through the house while he screamed like a little girl. Annie skidded to a stop when her brother ran behind her older brother, hiding behind him like he was his protector. Annie awkwardly smiled as he stared down at her.

"Uhhhh…..hiiiiii?" she looked at him as water dripped off her. Her brother shook his head, an amused smile spread across his muzzle.

"Kai got you too, I see." He chuckled, gesturing to his damp shirt. Annie groaned

"Danny, can't we just put him on a leash? Because he's an ANIMAL!" Annie yelled as Kai ran away, water pistol still in hand. Danny laughed as he handed Annie a towel.

"Unfortunately, no, we can't. According to society." He smiled. "Go take a shower, before Rafe and Sam get home. You know how they get when it comes to bathroom time." Annie smirked.

"And yet all their fighting contributes to naught, as I'm always the first in there anyway." She turned to head to the bathroom. "And I think I'll take a bath instead tonight, an extra **_LONG_** bath." She laughed at her own joke as she turned the bath and let it run while she went and fetched her phone from her room, tapping away at the screen only to come back to find her brother Kai pouring in the entirety of the bubble bath mixture into the bathtub, creating a huge growing cloud of bubbles. Annie pinched the bridge of her nose before growling.

"Kai…..I'm gonna give you a five second head start this time…."

"CUT HIM OFF AT THE FRONT GATE! I WILL NOT LET HIM GET AWAY!" the doctor screamed as chased after Shadow on her air board, shooting paralyser dart after paralyser dart at the hedgehog, who was currently running towards the exit of new robotropolis. He came for the emeralds, but it seems he got something else instead. Something that would help him thwart the doctor's plans once and for all. He grinned as the exit came into sight and dodged and weaved under robots, avoiding the paralyser darts at the same time, desperately gripping onto the documents, taking care not to drop anything as he sped at full speed towards freedom. He took note of how many robots were guarding the front gate and scoffed. His hand hadn't completely healed yet, but it was enough for what he was about to do. He began to channel his chaos energy and the light that surrounded him glowed brighter than before. He was nearly there.

"3….." Shadow blocked out everything around him. He could only everything was distant in his mind and all voices were now echoes and seemed far away.

"…2…" he closed his eyes as he approached the gate.

"…1." When Shadow opened his eyes again, he was standing on the other side of the gate in front of the great forest. He looked back at the destruction he'd just made. It was smouldering and a huge pile of robots were slumped everywhere, the doctor no nowhere to be seen. A satisfied smirk made its way across his tan muzzle as he ignored the once again searing pain in his hand.

"Chaos blast still never fails to disappoint." He muttered under his breath as he walked into the forest, only opening the files in his hand when he was a fair ways in. he studied them carefully and he traced his finger up one of the ages until it landed on a name;

"Nikki parlouzer….." Shadow mumbled before looking up at the pathway ahead of him. "I've got a long way to go….."

 ** _End of prologue_**

 **First chapter up! This story is basically a 'what if sonic team died and they were reincarnated in the future?' Say anything you want bout' it, good, bad, good-ish, bad-ish throw tomatoes, throw fish, throw bricks, whatever y'got in y'hands is fine! Dunno when next the next chapter will be up, but I am working on it as I upload this so perhaps soon!**

 **Thanks for readin'!**


	2. the leading cause of death is death

"Okay everybody, partner up and make sure you write down all the formulas used, what they are comprised of, and their measurements. I need these on my desk before you leave the class. Understood?" the class gave a deadpanned 'yes ma'am' as a response before people started partnering up and chatting amongst themselves. Nikki set to work at a desk by himself, performing the required actions and typing them on his laptop as he did so. Using his peripherals, h saw the other kids working together and for a few seconds; he kinda wanted to join them in their discussion. But then he remembered he actually had nothing to contribute to them or their conversation so he pushed the thought away and finished his work in no time at all. He was on chapter four of his math textbook when the school chime rang over the speakers and the intern's voice was heard.

"Sorry for interrupting your class time, but can Nikki Parlouzer please make his way to the front office. Immediately." It took a few seconds for everyone to process what just happened before the 'oohing' began as Nikki rolled his eyes and excused himself from his advanced science class. As he walked down the hallway, h couldn't help but drift off into his own thoughts. He had never been called up to the front office before. Had he done something wrong? No, he couldn't have, he's a straight A student. Could he be being dismissed early? No, his mother was working. Wait, perhaps something had happened to his mother and his grandparents were coming to pick him up and-

"Afternoon, Nikki. The principal and your babysitter are waiting inside for you, go right on in." oh. He was already here. Wait, babysitter? Did Nikki even **_HAVE_** a babysitter? He couldn't recall one, at least. But perhaps his mother has hired one for his sister without notifying him? He stepped into the principal's office. He opened the door and the principal looked up at him, as well as a woman with red hair wearing a long red trench coat. She smiled brightly at him.

"Ah, Nikki, take a seat. You too, Ms….." the principal looked at the woman.

"Kintobor. Call me Ms Kintobor." She replied as she sat down, still smiling, while Nikki slowly sat down on the chair next to her, feeling slightly uneasy. The principal chimed in again.

"Now, Ms Kintobor, would you like to fill Nikki in on the situation?" Ms Kintobor smiled again and turned to Nikki.

"Of course." Nikki felt a shiver down his spine as his eyes met Ms Kintobor's dark shaded spectacles. The fact that he couldn't see her eyes made him feel even more uneasy. "Nikki, I'm a colleague of your mother's. I'm here to tell you that your mother will be going away for a few days and that I'm supposed to be taking care of you and your sister while she's away." Nikki raised the ridge of his eyebrow as she continued. "I thought it might be good if I picked you both up early today so we could get acquainted with each other." It was then that he noticed the presence of his little sister in the corner of the room, her school dress still on and she was happily humming as she played with her favourite stuffed chao toy. His eyes flickered towards her briefly before landing back on Ms Kintobor's glasses again.

"My mum never mentioned this to me before." He finally replied, his eyes trying to tap into Ms Kintobor's. Why did this whole situation put him on edge? Ms Kintobor's never faltering smile didn't ease his suspicions.

"It was a short notice send off." She replied simply, standing up. "Now come, you two. I've already signed you out Nikki, so we gotta go." She held the door open for the two hedgehogs to walk out and as Nikki's sister bounced off her chair, he knelt down in front of her so he was at her level.

"Abigail, I want you to hold my hand." He whispered into her ear. She nodded in reply and took hold of his hand as they made their way out, Nikki taking one last glance at the principal before closing the door.

Shadow growled as he walked down the street on the file, briefly looking up every so often to look at the house numbers before he finally came to a stop. He checked to see if it was the same house as the one in the file before walking through the front gate and up to the door, taking a breath and running a hand through his quills before knocking on the door. There was no answer, so he knocked again. He stepped back from the door and looked around, his eyes looking for any indication that they were home. After coming to the conclusion that they weren't, he blew out a sigh and mumbled curses under his breath. It seemed that he would have to wait for them to return. Fortunately for him, just as he was about to leave, a car pulled up in the driveway and he stopped as a navy blue hedgehog woman stepped out. A surprised look crossed her face when she spotted Shadow standing in her front yard.

"Oh. Um…have…have I been…expecting you, or-"Shadow coughed awkwardly.

"Um, no, ma'am, but I must have a word with you…it's about your son. His name is Nikki, yes?" the woman nodded, her face was still one of confusion. "I'm sorry if this is a bad time but I must stress this is of the utmost importance-"the woman waved her hand dismissively.

"No no no! Not at all! This is okay! It's just, I'm surprised Nikki didn't answer the door, as he'd normally be home from school by now….." Shadow glanced to the door, then back to the woman, pointing his finger towards the front door.

"You say your son would normally be home by now?" he questioned. The hedgehog gave another nod. Shadow thought for a few moments back to when he escaped robotropolis. "There was no sign of the doctor when he lasted through the front gates. Perhaps she…." Shadow's eyes widened slightly as he grabbed the woman by her arm, startling her. She let out a yelp as Shadow pulled her out her front yard and towards his motorbike, which was resting against the curb of the sidewalk.

"What are you doing? Is this a kidnapping? I have a Taser in my bag, you know!" the woman said in a stern tone as she was hoisted onto the motorbike as Shadow pulled himself up onto it. He looked back at her.

"Ma'am, if you believed this was a kidnapping, you'd have knocked me out by now." A smirk was plastered across Shadow's muzzle. "I mean, a kendo champion such as yourself would have no trouble taking me down, no?" the woman smiled.

"I feel as though you have a good reason for being here. Also you caught me on a good day." She wrapped her arms around Shadow's waist. "Now, you can explain to me what's going on on the way to wherever you're taking me. Also, my name is not 'ma'am'. It's Carmen." Shadow nodded as he revved the bike before speeding away. It wasn't long before Carmen chimed in again.

"….also we really should be wearing helmets on here young man, safety first!" Shadow groaned.

Nikki grunted as the woman tugged the ropes wrapped around his body tighter. As soon as they had left the school building, 'Ms Kintobor' had immediately stripped her polite demeanour, she became wicked and terrifying. She knocked Nikki out with one blow and had driven the two hedgehogs to a lake far outside of town. When Nikki gained conscious, he found himself tied up with ropes and Ms Kintobor tormenting his sister with horrid words. He heaved as he looked up at her before speaking.

"….why are you…doing this..." his breath hitched as Ms Kintobor kicked him in the stomach, resulting in a shriek to come from his little sister, to which Ms Kintobor slapped her hard across the face, knocking the child down to a small, quivering heap in the grass. The woman giggled insanely as she stared down at the whimpering child.

"Good girl. Now, if you stay quiet, I promise your demise will be a lot quicker and painless then your brother's…" she looked back to Nikki as he heaved. Kintobor kneeled down to his eye level as she adjusted the weights tied to the ends of the rope. She gazed at Nikki's bruised cheek from when she slapped him earlier, the wound now purple. She laughed in his face. "Oh, if only Dr Eggman could see me now, he'd be _SO_ proud of me!" she put the final adjustments to the ropes, tied a piece of cloth round his mouth to silence him and she shoved Nikki again, his head by the very edge of the lake. Giving Nikki one last sinister grin.

"Sayonara, Nikki Parlouzer." And he was shoved into the lake with one push. Nikki's first instinct was to panic. And panic he did. He writhed and squirmed and thrashed about in the water in a feeble attempt to free himself he tried kicking his legs to swim back to the surface, but the weights on held him down, dragging him deeper away from the surface. He started to struggle to breath. His glasses were long gone, so he couldn't see. The water was dark and he could no longer see the surface any more as his struggling slowed down, eventually coming to a complete stop. Nikki's eyes flickered and closed as he could no longer afford to keep them open any more. His body was numb. His arms were tied behind his back securely so he couldn't escape. His body had stopped responding completely, leaving him only with his scrambled thoughts. This was it. This was his watery end. This really was the end for him. He felt himself slowly slip away from consciousness until he could no longer feel anything at all.

 **Ahh, sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter than the last one! I don't think this is my best work as I wrote most of it late at night, but ah, tell what you guys think! Anything I should change? Anything I should take out? Add? Also thanks to BoredReader and pawprawks to their reviews, glad y'guys like it! Stay amazing!**

 **Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	3. dammit shadow why are you so awkward

"…."

"...so…..nic….." Nikki slowly opened his eyes. He was in a field of sorts. The sun was shining, and there was long grass and flowers that softly swayed in the calm breeze. It was peaceful and all was silent, with the exception of a soft voice calling out the name 'Sonic' which Nikki didn't understand. Seeing no other options, he took a step forward, and the voice grew clearer and louder.

"….Sonic…follow…me….. Nikki cupped his mouth before yelling into the distance.

"HELLO? IS THERE ANYONE THERE?" he got no response, only the voice repeating its words over and over again. Nikki narrowed his eyes as he thought he'd spotted something in the distance. A small speck of something. He started walking towards it, but the further he walked, the farther away the speck seemed to get, so his slow steps turned into a jog, and his jog eventually turned into a sprint as he desperately tried to reach out to the speck. Just as he was gaining on the speck, he noticed it had a mobian-like shape to it, he couldn't make it out completely though as he lacked his glasses. He got closer and closer towards it, finally stopping in front of it. The figure was shorter than him, and had its back turned away from him. He still couldn't make it out very well, aside from the figure's vibrant blue colour. He stretched out his hand to touch the figure, but suddenly they turned around, their eyes letting out a blinding light, causing Nikki's world t snap back to darkness once again.

He bolted up, almost head butting the figure kneeling in front of him. A scream from next to him startled Nikki and he turned to the source, which he assumed, by their small size, was Abigail. She blubbered out words so quickly he couldn't understand anything, and he also had a splitting headache and everything was spinning, so all he did was let out a strained croak. A hand came to his cheek and twisted his head to look at a blurry black figure in front of him. Nikki narrowed his eyes and he made out a pair of red eyes staring deep into his own. The figure opened his mouth and their voice was deep and smooth.

"Can you hear me, Nikki?" Nikki didn't question how the person knew his name, he just nodded his head dumbly. The voice spoke up again. "Alright, can you stand up?" he didn't know, _could_ he? He went to go try, but found it too hard to lift his shivering body up off the grass. Fortunately, he was helped up by the dark figure and one other person whom by their colours, Nikki deduce was his mother. She slipped something around him as she took a hold of his hand and squeezed.

"Wh-what…" Nikki let out a hacking cough, keeling over before speaking again in his strained voice. "What's….going on?" his voice still hurt, but he wanted an explanation.

"You were drowning." Ah, now he remembered. He and Abigail were kidnapped by this weird woman who beat him up and threw him into a river for apparently absolutely no reason whatsoever.

"Oh." He heard his mother let out a snort, which he found to be highly insulting, considering the current situation he was in. "What's so funny?" he pouted as his mother covered her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"I'm sorry, honey, it's just…..gosh, you are _so_ much like your father! I mean, you nearly _died_ and all you have to say to that is ' _oh'?_ " she shook her head while smiling before taking his cold, shaking hand into hers.

"I'm glad you're okay though. Really, I am. I don't know what I would've done if you had-"she cut herself off and Nikki noticed the tears threatening to fall out her eyes. His expression immediately changed from one of annoyance to concern and he held his other hand out for her to take, but instead she yanked him into a tight hug, Nikki cringed as he was held in her viper grip. She held him in her arms for a few minutes before letting him go, a sniffle escaping her as she looked at him again, a smile on her face before she turned to Shadow, who was holding a sleeping Abigail in his arms, looking down at her with a soft expression on his face. "Come on, let's go home and get you warm, then we can all talk, okay?"

"So….you're saying _my_ Nikki is destined to save the world?" Shadow nodded as he placed the mug of coffee in his hands on the coffee table in front of him. Carmen bit her lip as she looked at her two children, asleep on the couch next to her. After getting back home and getting Nikki warmed up again, the two had basically collapsed on the couch together, whilst Shadow spent the last few minutes telling Carmen his entire story. Carmen didn't know what to think. Her Nikki; her _shooting star,_ was supposed to save the _entire_ world? She looked back to Shadow and took a deep breath and urged him to continue.

"In short, yes, he _is_ the reincarnation of an old friend of mine. And the woman who tried to kill him today is the reincarnation of our old enemy, doctor Eggman." Shadow ran a hand through his quills, and looked away shamefully "I've been keeping her at bay for several years now, but I got careless this time, and now she has the power to destroy the entire world….all because I got reckless and cocky. And I really must apologise for having to ask this of you but-"

"It's okay." Shadow looked at Carmen, his eyes widened at her sympathetic smile aimed at him. "I understand. And I agree to your terms, but I just have one request."

"Yes?"

"Please….look after him. He's…" she glanced at him again. "…please promise me he'll come home alive." Shadow thought for a few moments before answering.

"….of course. You have my word, Ms Hedgehog. I will return your son home safe and sound; I promise." Carmen smiled sadly and stood up, picking up their empty mugs.

"I will hold you to that…..I'll go and get his stuff ready." She began to leave but stopped at the doorway, turning her head back to look at Shadow. "Feel free to sleep on the couch." She gestured to the couch opposite her children before leaving. Shadow let out a soft sigh as he lied down on the couch, spreading his legs out into a comfortable position. His eyes were heavy as he felt himself drift off to sleep. He really was tired, as much as he hated to admit it. He propped his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, glad that he could actually sleep for once without being attacked or hunted throughout the night. Although, he would have to get up early tomorrow, he had a lot ahead of him. But for now, he was going to enjoy a good night's sleep.

Nikki was awoken by a rough hand gripping his shoulder. He groggily opened his eyes, sitting up on the couch, where he assumed he had fallen asleep yesterday after almost dying. He found Shadow staring at him through the darkness. Nikki yawned before stretching.

"What…time is it…?" he mumbled, his voice deep and hoarse from lack of hydration. He looked down at his clothes before grunting and getting up off the couch and heading to his room, Shadow following behind him.

"It's four twenty six in the morning, and we've got to go." Nikki ignored Shadow as he changed his clothes and got his spare pair of glasses off his bedside table before noticing the packed suitcase on his bed. He pointed to it.

"What is this?"

"Your belongings. Now let's go."

"Where? I have school today." Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Not anymore, we've got to start your training."

"Uh….. _what_ training?" Shadow groaned in annoyance before pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to hold his temper. He counted to ten before speaking again.

"Remember? We discussed it briefly last night before you fell asleep. You're the reincarnation of a hero from centuries ago and you have to stop an evil madwoman from destroying the entire world and I have to train you because let's face it….." he looked down at Nikki's attire. "….you're not hero material. Yet." Nikki wracked his brain, trying to remember the conversation.

"Oh! Oh yeah, I remember now. Can I say bye to my mum and sister first?" he asked, about to head out his bedroom door, but Shadow grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"no." he took Nikki's suitcase in one hand before producing a glowing green gem from his quills. Nikki had no time to react. "CHAOS CONTROL!" and they were both engulfed by a bright white light, causing Nikki to squeeze his eyes shut.

When he opened them again, he wasn't in his room anymore. He was in a city. There were tall buildings and thousands of people everywhere, pushing past him and Shadow. Nikki was about to say something but he was once again dragged away by Shadow before he could speak. The two wandered around the unknown city for a while in silence before Shadow turned into a café of sorts and sat Nikki down at a table.

"What do you want?" Nikki raised the arc of his eye.

"Excuse me?" he asked quizzically.

"To eat." Shadow shoved a menu at him and Nikki let out an 'ah' before browsing through the menu for a few minutes before settling on a simple spicy omelette and a double chocolate milkshake. Shadow ordered and the two sat in silence before Nikki spoke up again.

"so." He began, Shadow immediately looked his way. "Where exactly _are_ we?" he fiddled with his glasses as he gave Shadow a questioning look.

"Station square." he answered simply, his gaze moving back to the window. _Another short conversation,_ Nikki thought. Thankfully, his food arrived so he was distracted for a while as he ate, but not for long, as his mind began to wander again. _Station square….where have I heard that before? Oh, wait, I know where we are! This is…southern Mobius! Yeah! Wait, that's a long way away from where I live! How did he…_ Nikki shot Shadow a suspicious look.

"Chaos control. It's a power you should be able to use, with proper training." Shadow answered Nikki's un-asked question, who, in return, simply nodded his head. Shadow stood up, producing a bunch of rings from his quills. "Are you finished?" he asked impatiently. Nikki held up a hand as he drunk the last of his milkshake. Shadow rolled his eyes and tapped his fingers on the table. Nikki took a breath as he finished and stood up.

"Okay, I'm done." He heard Shadow grumble a 'finally' and he paid for the food before they exited the café together. Shadow looked both ways before he began walking again, Nikki in tow, firing thousands of questions at him, one after the other. ' _So, how do you do chaos control?' 'Are your quills naturally like that?' 'Who exactly is doctor Eggman?'_

"Where are we goin-" _Nikki_ bumped into Shadow's back quills as he abruptly stopped. Nikki pulled the stray quills out of his face and groaned, rubbing his face. He stepped to the side to see why Shadow had stopped, he hadn't noticed the change in scenery. They were now in a mountainous region of sorts, and they were standing in front of what looked like a huge warehouse cross observatory. Shadow walked up and unlocked the door, holding it open for Nikki to walk in. he looked apprehensive for a few seconds, but then he walked straight in, Shadow right after him, flicking on a light switch. Nikki looked around. The place was quite homely. It had a kitchen, dining room, rec room, and a second floor he had yet to see.

"What…..is this place?" Shadow walked past Nikki, his bag still in his hand and he began walking up the stairs.

"Tails' workshop." He answered as he reached the top of the stairs.

 **Annnnd that's another chapter done! i would've had this chapter up sooner but...i'm kind of a lazy butt. But I hope ya enjoyed it! as always, any feedback is appreciated! any reviews in general are appreciated! even if its technically not a review, just, anything! i love getting comments! you could be complaining about how much you hate minions and i'd still be happy!**

 **special thanks to** **blackandredrose** **for her review! glad ya like it so far!**

 **also...THANKS FOR THE FAVS AND THE FOLLOW! I LOVE YA! STAY BEAUTIFUL!**

 **as always, i appreciate ya choosing to read! stay tuned for the next chapter with bated breath!**


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